Scandal Recap: I Must Confess...

Scandal has introduced us to all sorts of hats during the past seven seasons — white, black, grey. But Thursday’s episode offered up an entirely different type of headpiece: “old hat.”

At least that’s what Olivia called Fitz & Co.’s attempt to hold her captive at the Vermont Dream House™ for an intervention. (The classic sex cabin bait-and-switch gets ’em every time!) But Liv wasn’t about to let herself be put on trial, so she jumped straight to her plea (not guilty!) and her closing remarks:

“There isn’t a person in here who hasn’t had to get their hands a little bit dirty at one point or another,” she huffed. “Isn’t that right, Abby? I know that Huck — of all people! — isn’t actually the one who’s calling me a monster right now. … After everything Fitz has done, after everything that’s been done in his name, he’s not going to get up on his soap box and judge me, is he?”

Then she dropped one of my favorite lines of the night: “This ridiculous house you built for the two of us should have been made of glass, because from where I’m standing…” She didn’t get to finish her sentence before being whisked off to her room by the Secret Service, but I think the sentiment stuck.

Following the world’s most uncomfortable slumber party, Liv finally agreed to resign as Chief of Staff, a decision she announced via this tearful monologue: “I can’t seem to admit that I was wrong, which is how I know… [dramatic pause] …what I can’t admit is that I have to stop. I can’t continue. Not like this, not anymore. I’m sorry. I wish I could say that to the person who needs to hear it the most.” (Was anyone else waiting for Quinn to be brought out, like Scandal was suddenly turning into the darkest game show ever?)

But just when the Gladiators thought they’d bested their mentor, Olivia pulled her own bait-and-switch, skipping her televised announcement to have sex with Jake because ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ and was surprised (nay, shocked!) when she arrived at the White House and learned she’d been replaced… by Jake! Again, because ¯\_(ツ)_/¯!

Elsewhere this week…

* Mellie and Jake had a really graphic chat about Olivia’s reason for killing Rashad, with Jake finally saying, “You couldn’t keep your legs closed,” implying that Mellie’s promiscuity would have sent America to war. She immediately fired back, reminding him that Fitz “spread his DNA” all over the damn White House and never got this lecture. Besides, as she later argued, Olivia is “bad for this country.”

* Quinn and Charlie certainly share Mellie’s views on Olivia, though they have two different ideas about “justice”; Charlie would have killed her already if Quinn had let him off his leash. And what fun would that have been? As we saw in the promo for next week’s episode, Quinn’s got big plans for her former boss.

* And can we talk about Quinn and Rowan singing “…Baby One More Time” to get her baby to sleep?! Even better is this video Katie Lowes tweeted of her rehearsing the big moment:

* Lastly, a quick compliment on Kerry Washington’s directorial debut: People were coming at Olivia from all angles, and I really felt like her world was closing in on her. I found this episode to be very well-paced overall. It almost felt like a throwback to the glory days.